Ornamented shoe upper



April 28;.1925. v 1 V 1,535,6461

- w. F, aosrqgm;

ORNAMENTED SHOE UPPER Filed Dec. 17. 1923 Patented Apr. 28, 1925.

WILLIAM F. Bos'roomoF SOUTH. BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS.

QRNAMENTED SHOE UrPER.

Applicatiom filed Decernher li," 1923. SeriaLNo. 681,138.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itlcnownrthat I, VVILLIAMF. Bos'roon, a citizen 'of the United-States, residing at South Braintree, in thecounty or Norfolk iandjState' of Massacl1usetts,:have invented new and useful Improvements in Orna- IILGRlJBCLShOQ Uppers, of which the following is a specification.

The present inventionrelatesrtoshoe maklog generally. and particularly to orna mented? shoe uppers of the type shownrin' my patent application filed December 2nd, 1921,) Serial No; 519,378, and entitled Ornamented; shoe upper. i

'llhe'general object ofthe present invention is the same as thatset forth in my previous 1 application, 1 that is to get I ornamental effects which are not obtainable by the use of materials previouslyemployed in Shoe making; cfiectswhich are 'superi or: to those previously obtained a by reason both oif= their greater brilliancy, 'and'their greater durability and less liability of beingsoiled' or defaced: a The new Step of tlie present invention, as comparedvwith thatiset'f'orth inmy' prior application, consists in the application to, or combination with, a shoe upper, of. awstringon:stranchofbeads or the like extending along'tl revedge of-the Shoe upper, or of one of the piecescomposingtheupper, an'dMsecured-by means, which-is also preterably ornamental; like or equilvalent to the ornamental. edging material described in: my prior application. a

Referring to the drawings in 1 which I have shown= oneof the embodiments 1 of my presentinvention Figure 1' is a. plan view of the fore part ofthe shoe to which ornamentation of? the sort above describedi in general terms has been applied;

Figure 2 1s: a cross section: on a much en'- larged Scale taken on the line oi'flFigure '1.. v i Figure 3 is an enlarged detail View the ornamental edging material shown Figural: I i

Figures is a sectional View similar to Figure 2'showing a modification ot the invention.

Like reference characters designate the same: parts wherever they occur in allot the figures.

The letter a in Figures 1, Qand l'represents the vamp of aishoe upper and 2) represents an ornamentah leather strap "which is applied to a the vamp adjacent to the throat. thereof! This: strap isstitohedlto' the outer side of the vamp' and isin eifectanpart thereof; 1t exemplifiesone member orpart of a shoe upper which is-stitched to another member or part of theurpper in such manner that at least one edge overlaps the second namcd part and: exposed on the outer surface of such: other part. The exposed and over lapping edge 0 (shown in Figure 2) of: the

strap isthew-part of the upper to which the-ornamental edging forming the substance: of this invention is applied.

The edging referre'ch to comprises a string of'beads (L -which bestrung on any suitable filament',. -such as aa wire, a: thread or st rand of vegetable fibres, or a strand of animal hair or.fibre, or other mater ial. For the purpose of: i this specification, the term: string of: bea'ds'is intended to include "a series ofi beads or) Similar bodies arranged and connected in a flexible lineor string by any suitable means or construction, including those mentioned above; In other words the word string has no restrictive Significanceas to' the material or size or other characteriStics ofthe connectors by which the beads or the like are tl'IIIS C'OHDGOtB'dL InFigures 2, 3an'd 4 theeonnector is represented asa flexible metallic wire 6.

The beadsor equivalent ornamental bodies thus arranged in a string e may be of glass, metal or'any other material 01": which beads can be made, in anysize and Shape-desired, and of any colors desired. a

The bead string so characterized is attached'totheexposed edge 0 of the part 03, byLclips or straps or loops, such as those shown at 7 in Figures 1, 2 and 3' and at in Figure 4; e

The clips f shown in Figures 1, Qand 3 are ofunetal doubled on acurve wide enough to enclose. the strand on which the beads are strung, and also to'permit the edges-orlips ottbe clips'to embrace the edge of the piece 7), but preferably not wide enough to admit the beads. The clips are placed over the exposed edge of the piece 6 and are clamped thereon by pressure. If desired, the under part of the clip may be offset at one or more points as shown at g in order to indent the leather piece I), so as to increase the security of gripping the same, and also the extreme edge of the outer part of the clip may be turned inward so as to bite into the outer surface of the leather piece, in order to still further increase the security of the grip. However these last mentioned aids to obtain a secure grip may be dispensed with and friction alone depended upon to hold the clips, after they have been compressed under sufficient pressure around the exposed edge of the leather piece.

Clips or loops of other materials than metals may be used for the same purpose, as for instance celluloid, rubber, or other compositions capable of being molded or rolled into sheet form and of being molded or bent into the shape of the clips here shown, and compressed on the edge of a leather piece, with heat or not, according to the nature of the material. Such a nonmetallic clip, and specifically one made of celluliod is shown at f in Figure 4. For clips of such nonmetallic materials, since they may not have great enough inherent stifiness to be'securely held by their grip on the leather, I have provided an additional lock which consists in perforating the leather piece in that part which is overlapped by the sides of the clip, and filling the perforations with a mass it of cement or other more or less suitable plastic material which will adhere or combine with the material of the clip, and will become hard and firm by drying or other action within areasonably short time after being applied.

The clips thus described, if of metal, may have the natural color of any selected metal as gold, silver, steel, etc., or any other color to which metal may be changed by oxidation or other chemical treatment, or the clips may be covered with enamel of any color. So also the non-metallic clips may be colored in the course of making the compound in any desired color. Either sort of clip may also serve as a setting for a stone or jewel i, which being confined between the leather piece and the outer side of the clip, as shown in Figure 2, is exposed to view through a hole in the clip. Thus not only the beads, which are held by clips close to the edge of the leather, offer wide possibilities for beautiful and striking effects of ornamentation of color and form, but the clips themselves offer additional possibilities of contrasting or enhanced ornamental effects due to the colors which may be given to them, as above described, to the form or outline to which the exposed sides of the clips may be out, and to the jewels which may be set in the clips.

Vhile clips of the sort above described, having both the mechanical function of securing the bead string to the upper and also the aesthetic function of ornamentation, are the preferred means for attaching the beads and are claimed as such; nevertheless I do not limit my claim to protection exclusively to the combination of a bead string with such attaching clips, but claim also the application of a string of beads to a shoe upper in substantially the manner disclosed in this specification, by whatever means it may be secured.

lVhile I have described the ornamentation as applied to a specific part of the shoe upper, that is to a binding or edging strip along the throat of the vamp, it is to be understood that this showing is for illustration only, and is intended to typify any parts of the upper to which such ornamentation may be applied. For example, in other styles of shoes, there may be a toe cap having an exposed edge across the fore part of the vamp, or the vamp may be made of a number of pieces stitched together with one piece overlapping another. A bead string may be applied according to this invention to such overlapping edge of any of these parts or even to the extreme edge of the upper, such as the edge 7' at the throat of the vamp, the upper edge is of the quarter, or either or both edges of an instep strap Z or similar part of the upper. In short my invention contemplates the application of a bead string substantially as shown to any exposed edge or any part of a shoe where it extends around or over a part of the foot on which the shoe is Worn.

I claim:

1. A shoe upper comprising a number of pieces stitched together, and a string of beads attached to, and extending along, an exposed edge of said upper.

2. A shoe upper comprising a number of pieces stitched together in overlapping relationship, and a string of beads attached to the exposed overlapping edge of one of said pieces and extending along such edge.

3. A shoe upper comprising a number of pieces stitched together in overlapping relationship, a string of beads extending along an exposed edge of a part of the upper, and clips embracing said string and the said edge, and being secured to the upper close to said edge.

4;. A shoe upper comprising a number of pieces stitched together in overlapping rela tionship, a string of beads extending alongside the exposed overlapping edge of one of said pieces, and clips embracing said string and the adjacent edge portion of the said piece and secured to the latter.

5. A shoe upper comprising a number of which embrace such edge, and a jewel confined between said upper and the outer wing of said clip and protruding into a hole in such wing.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature.

WILLIAM F. BOSTOGK. 

